


"Thin Ice" S10.3: Decoding Doctor Who Season 10 Episodes

by TardisGirlLoveStory



Series: Season 10 Doctor Who [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Analysis, F/M, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10839516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisGirlLoveStory/pseuds/TardisGirlLoveStory
Summary: This is the continuing work of a multi-chapter handbook and meta analysis for Season 10 of BBC's Doctor Who.  While it's not absolutely necessary to read the previous documents, I do build on the concepts and metaphors explained previously.Season 10 spoiler warnings





	"Thin Ice" S10.3: Decoding Doctor Who Season 10 Episodes

**Author's Note:**

> **** Spoiler warning. ****
> 
> Check out my [meta archive on Tumblr](http://tardisgirlepic.tumblr.com/meta-archive) for images

[[For images, see my tumblr chapter]](http://tardisgirlepic.tumblr.com/post/160454966813/ch-1-thin-ice-analysis-doctor-who-s103/)

##  **The Frost Fair & River Song**

The setting of the 1814 Frost Fair, itself, is a reference to “A Good Man Goes To War.”  A Doctor from a different point in time from the 11th Doctor’s setting in the episode took River Song to the 1814 Frost Fair for her birthday and got Stevie Wonder to sing for her under London Bridge.  (There was a scene from “Thin Ice” that was cut where the Doctor told Bill about this.)  In the image below, River is coming back to Stormcage from the fair, while she’s still in her Regency clothes with her ice skates.  Was she skating on thin ice?  Rory is in the background.  


The Doctor has been to the fair a few times, as he said in “Thin Ice,” including offering to take Clara in “The Caretaker,” although they didn’t go in canon.  


> **BILL** : You've been here before?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Oh, yeah. A few times.

It’s a good thing the Doctor didn’t meet himself at the fair because that would have created a paradox.  The 1814 fair occurred over 4 days, so presumably the TARDIS wouldn’t have chosen the times when he was there before.  Otherwise, he would have been locked in his own time stream, trying to avoid himself like in “Before the Flood.”

However, the subtext suggests that he didn’t avoid meeting metaphors of himself.  That does happen a lot.  I’ll explain this in a few minutes.  (looking eye to eye)

##  **3 Idioms in Our First Look at the Frost Fair**

It’s interesting that our first look at the Frost Fair before the opening credits involves 3 English idioms that set the stage for Ragnarök.

####  **The Giant Elephant in the Room… Er on the Thames**

We see the ultimate elephant in the room, well on the Thames.  Part of the meaning of the elephant is given almost immediately.  After the Doctor moves the TARDIS to safety on the last day of the Frost Fair before the thaw, he addresses Bill’s concerns of legalized slavery of people with more melanin.   


However, it’s not just human slavery that the elephant pertains to, which leads, in part, to the 2nd idiom and the discovery below the ice.

####  **Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop**

When the Doctor is going back into the TARDIS to change into Regency clothes, he nearly collides with the vegetable man.  The encounter unbalances the man’s basket, and the basket dumps over the side of the bridge.  Oddly, once the vegetables hit the ice below, the camera switches to show us the watery view.  We see, shown below, a shoe dropping (red arrow) through the water and nothing else.  Why, because this doesn’t make sense on a scientific level?  


This is part of the English idiom “waiting for the other shoe to drop.”  It can mean that one defers action or decision until another matter is finished or resolved.  It can also mean that one is awaiting a seemingly inevitable event, especially one that is not desirable.  Both could pertain to the situation here.  

This has everything to do with the Vault, which we’ll get to below.  

Besides that, as Ashildr stated in “Hell Bent,” the Doctor is scared of whom he is and the prophecy of what he will do.  He’s been trying to avoid the inevitable by running for almost his entire life, but events have been set in motion.  One shoe dropping most likely is _Fimbulvetr_ , the prelude to _Ragnarök_.

This accidental encounter between the vegetable man and the Doctor suggests that the Doctor is indirectly responsible for the shoe dropping.  The TARDIS brought him to the Frost Fair because he needed to be there, but he broke his promise and wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for that.

Anyway, the shoe falls through the water and hits near the eye of giant beast that seems to be sleeping.  Its eye pops open.  This seems akin to “The Impossible Planet” when the Beast awakens.  The shoe (red arrow) sinks further toward the mouth of the beast, but the beast blows the shoe out.  

The elephant in the room also applies to the beast that is enslaved and in chains, like the Beast in “The Satan Pit,” the sequel to “The Impossible Planet.”   


However, the Loch-less Monster, as the Doctor calls it (I’m going to call it “Loch-less”) and another reference to Scotland, is not the same beast, both literally and metaphorically, that we saw in “The Impossible Planet” and its sequel “The Satan Pit.”  Loch-less, a metaphor for a face of the Doctor, is imbued with mercy, as evidenced at the end.  

Loch-less swims away without wreaking havoc.  However, this is the calm before the storm, while waiting for the inevitable.  Hence the idiom “waiting for the other shoe to drop.”  It appears that events of _Ragnarök_ have already been set in motion.  Is Loch-less’s splash of her tail once she is free supposed to be the other shoe dropping?  Loch-less’s freedom leads into the third idiom.

####  **Skating on Thin Ice**

The episode’s title, “Thin Ice,” is part of the English idiom “skating on thin ice,” to be doing something that is dangerous or involving risks.  We see people about 8 minutes into the episode, shown below, actually skating in the area that says, “Thin Ice.” Of course, the Doctor’s world is always fraught with danger, and we see people, including a child seemingly die.  Did Loch-less really eat the child?  Or is this like “The Beast Below,” where the child gets enslaved somewhere?  Regardless, in the end, skating on thin ice comes down to the risk of letting Loch-less go. This mirrors letting free what is in the Vault.  


Bill’s concerns reflect Amy’s concerns in “The Beast Below,” and it’s why Amy, at first, voted to keep torturing the Star Whale.

> **DOCTOR** : The creature. The loch-less monster. The not-so-little mermaid. Are we just going to leave her down there?  
>  **BILL** : We can't set her free. She could burst up out of the water and eat a hundred people right off of Southbank! She could eat half of London!

##  **Other Major Referenced Episodes**

Once again, “Thin Ice” has tons of references to other episodes.  It’s amazing how many references to previous episodes have been in the 1st three stories of Season 10.  In fact, there are references to episodes from every nuWho Doctor and their companions, as well as some Classic Who Doctors and especially companion Sarah Jane Smith.  However, “Thin Ice” draws most heavily on themes from “The Beast Below,” “Planet of the Ood,” “Robot of Sherwood,” “Time Heist,” “The Empty Child,” and “The Doctor Dances.”  

BTW, we even see the Vault at the end of the episode.  The subtext in the rest of the episode suggests what is happening with the Vault.  I’ll get to that in a few minutes.

I do want to mention that “Thin Ice” has some very basic elements of another 7th Doctor story called “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” with a circus, a ringmaster, and circus performers.  Fortunately, the connection mostly stops there because IMHO this is the weakest of the 7th Doctor stories with his companion Ace.  

Is Sutcliffe dressed like a ringmaster, shown below?  The 12th Doctor told Sutcliffe, “The circus performers, the elephant, that's all you.”  Therefore, it would make sense.  I’m no expert on Regency costumes, but Sutcliffe’s outfit seems to stand out more than most of the other costumes in the episode, especially with his brighter blue contrasted with the light-colored pants.  He obviously wants to stand out, and his outfit reminds me of the ringmaster of a circus.   


Regardless, like “Thin Ice,” “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” hides a terrible secret, which could possibly have a bearing on Season 10.  The audience of the 7th Doctor story includes just 3 beings, a family – father, mother, and daughter.  They are the Gods of Ragnarök.  However, they are not the Norse gods that we know, like Thor, Odin, or Loki.  Instead, they look very alien, as the image from the TARDIS Wikia shows below.   They are powerful creatures that don’t think twice about destroying entertainers who fail to please them.  


##  **Signs of the Norse** **Ragnarök**

####  **The Trickster’s Brigade, “Turn Left,” Ragnarök & Disappearing Pete**

It’s so interesting in “Thin Ice” that the Doctor calls the pie-man a con man and a trickster, but the Doctor, himself, is playing a bit of a trickster, a con man, and a thief.  None of that is new for him.  After all, he stole the TARDIS, and he, for example, tricks people all the time into divulging information or into doing things.  However, we haven’t seen him going around stealing lots of things in an episode, like a hat and food.

Moreover, this isn’t the first time we’ve encountered references to a trickster.  In fact, fascinatingly the dialogue references to DW episodes all lead to a Ragnarök event.  Is the Trickster and his brigade a sign of Ragnarök?

The Trickster’s Brigade is led by [the Trickster](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Trickster).  According to the TARDIS Wikia:

> The Trickster was an immortal extra-dimensional alien, formerly part of an extra-dimensional group of beings known as the Pantheon of Discord, who were banished from the known universe. The Trickster, alone, frequently manifested on Earth, making bargains to alter history in attempts to draw power from the chaos he created and thus enter the world in his full power.

In fact, the Trickster or references to him showed up in 3 different stories in _The Sarah Jane Adventures_ and one in _Torchwood_.  He also appeared in an image in “Time Heist.”  The Trickster’s Brigade, according to the Wikia, are the only villains to appear in DW, as well as the 2 spinoffs.  That’s significant.

 **The Trickster’s Brigade & “Turn Left”**  
In [“Turn Left,”](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/30-11.htm) we first heard of the Trickster’s Brigade after alternate Donna sacrificed herself, making main timeline Donna turn left to save the Doctor, instead of right under the beetle’s influence.  Because the timeline was fixed, the beetle on Donna’s back died.  

> (Later, the Doctor is prodding the dead beetle with a stick.)  
>  **DONNA** : I can't remember. It's slipping away. You know like when you try and think of a dream and it just sort of goes.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Just got lucky, this thing. It's one of the Trickster's Brigade. Changes a life in tiny little ways. Most times, the universe just compensates around it, but with you? Great big parallel world.  
>  **DONNA** : Hold on. You said parallel worlds are sealed off.  
>  **DOCTOR** : They are. But you had one created around you. Funny thing is, seems to be happening a lot to you.

Ragnarök began with the beetle, resulting in alternate Donna’s death, along with the death of the parallel world, and continuing through the finale in the next two episodes, “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s End.”  Not only was Donna about to die again, but in the second episode, she was reborn, so to speak, into a new being, the DoctorDonna.

Since the 12th Doctor is mirroring Donna in many ways, and Caecilius put on a gold beetle broach in “The Fires of Pompeii,” it’s not surprising that references to the Trickster would feature in 12th Doctor episodes.

 **“The Pandorica Opens” & “The Big Bang”**  
In “The Pandorica Opens,” we see that the Pandorica was built possibly to hold a trickster, who is the Doctor:

> **DOCTOR** : There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.

This again is _Ragnarök_ , as the universe was collapsing, which included people forgetting about events like Daleks coming to Earth.  It also included people disappearing.  Of course, in the sequel, “The Big Bang,” the Doctor reboots the universe, creating a rebirth.  Amy, however, awakes in a dream with birdsong in the background.

 **The Trickster & “Time Heist”**  
In “Time Heist,” there is a scene where the Teller locks onto Clara’s mind when she, the Doctor, Psi, and Saibra are trying to rob the Bank of Karabraxos.  Psi projects images on the wall of… 

> **PSI** : Every thief and villain in one big cocktail. I am so guilty! Every famous burglar in history is hiding in this bank right now in one body. Come and feast! Clara? For what it's worth, and it might not be worth much, when your whole life flashes in front of you, you see people you love and people missing you. Well, I see no one. 

Here’s Psi, a mirror of the Doctor, projecting an image of the Trickster on the wall.  


<http://archiveofourown.org/works/8033002/chapters/20484622>  
In Chapter 10 of “Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who” which lead up to TRODM, we examined Psi and another subtext promise that after the rescue, like Psi, the Doctor would remember who his family was.  

What is happening to the 12th Doctor is similar to what happened in the outline arc episode “Time Heist.”  The Doctor having come to the fair several times is most likely akin to having gone to the bank multiple times, getting closer to saving other beings with each visit.

In fact, at the end of “Thin Ice,” there is another reference to “Time Heist.”  The Doctor calls Bill, “boss”…

> **BILL** : The new Lord Sutcliffe was found starving on London's streets. The inheritance was contested, everyone got super mad, blah, blah, blah, Urchin boy deemed legitimate. Oh my God, it worked! You did it. You saved them.  
>  **DOCTOR** : You did. You gave the order, boss.

…just like he did with Clara.

> **CLARA** : See you. Don't rob any banks.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Don't rob any banks what?  
>  **CLARA** : Without me.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Course not, boss.

Therefore, “Thin Ice” is another episode foreshadowing the rescue of the Doctor and children.  I see this as akin to rescuing CAL from her nightmarish situation in the Library, along with the people caught in dreams.  The Library situation is another Ragnarök event.  The world people know in the Library is destroyed in favor of reality.  CAL is reborn, so to speak, as a child with a mother and without her fears that caused problems in the first place.

 **The Norse Trickster God & Ragnarök**  
In Norse mythology, the trickster god is Loki, so it certainly seems quite appropriate that we would hear about a trickster if Ragnarök were really coming.  Loki and his 2 sons (Jörmungandr and Fenrir) that we examined in a previous chapter are in the final battle during Ragnarök.

 **The Trickster, Sarah Jane Smith & Disappearing Pete**  
For a long time now, I’ve felt Sarah Jane’s presence in 12th Doctor episodes with references and such, and I’ve also felt that if the actress who played her, Elisabeth Sladen, were still alive, she would show up.  Her husband showed up in “Deep Breath,” which was a lovely reference to Elisabeth.

In fact, the Season 10 episodes support my belief because of all the references to Sarah Jane episodes, mostly with the 4th Doctor.  Not surprisingly, the 12th Doctor is channeling the 4th Doctor at various times in “Thin Ice.”  For example, the image below is part of the channeling.  You have to watch the entire movements of the Doctor in the episode where he’s talking to the foreman to see the channeling.  Bill, too, did a very Sarah Jane thing by sticking her tongue out at the Doctor.  In the previous episode, Bill mentioned Aberdeen, and one of the references to that comes back to Sarah Jane and the 4th Doctor.  


Anyway, “Thin Ice” further supports my belief that Sarah Jane is present in spirit with the Doctor.  The Doctor and Bill have an interesting discussion about invisible Pete, who most likely means more than he seems:

> **BILL** : Yeah. Travelling to the past. There's got to be rules. If I step on a butterfly, it could send ripples through time that mean I'm not even born in the first place and I could just disappear.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Definitely. I mean, that's what happened to Pete.  
>  **BILL** : Pete?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Your friend, Pete. He was standing there a moment ago, but he stepped on a butterfly and now you don't even remember him.  
>  **BILL** : Shut up! I'm being serious!  
>  **DOCTOR** : Yeah, so was Pete.  
>  **BILL** : You know what I mean. Every choice I make in this moment, here and now, could change the whole future.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Exactly like every other day of your life. The only thing to do is to stop worrying about it.  
>  **BILL** : Hmm. Okay. If you say so.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Pete's stopped worrying.

It’s good to see the 12th Doctor being playful, something we rarely see, so one thing this dialogue does is to show us a different side of the Doctor.  However, the way DW works is that dialogue like this has more than one meaning.

Because the term “trickster” is being used and the Doctor, himself, is being a trickster, the Doctor may be referring to Peter Dalton, who, to prevent his death, made a contract with the Trickster in “The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.”  After he broke the contract with Sarah Jane’s help, Peter disappeared forever.  

The idea of a contract is interesting because that ties into my hypothesis that DW is doing a version of _Doctor Faustus_.  On top of that, I’ve seen a clip for the upcoming episode “Knock, Knock” where the creepy Landlord is talking about a contract with Bill and her friends.  I’ll talk more about this in a few minutes because this most likely ties into Bill’s decision about releasing Loch-less.

BTW, the dialogue about Pete disappearing could suggest that the universe is collapsing, just like in “The Big Bang,” which would give us another explanation for the very small size of the universe.  People not remembering Loch-less from history, like Bill discovered near the end of “Thin Ice,” is potentially another sign of a collapsing universe, just as it was for the whole of the 11th Doctor’s Season 5. 

####  **Does the** **Loch-less Monster Symbolize Loki’s child?**

Jörmungandr, as we saw, is Loki’s son.  (With a gender change, I’m not worrying about matching genders any longer.)  However, we didn’t examine more about him.  He does have some similarities to Loch-less. 

Anyway, Jörmungandr is a giant serpent that is also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent.  (Midgard is another name for Earth, and one of the Nine Worlds in Norse mythology.)  Jörmungandr grows so large that it could surround the Earth and grasp its own tail.  In fact, when it releases its tail, Ragnarök will begin.

The serpent is Thor’s arch-enemy, and they have 3 encounters.  (The second might have some relationship to “Thin Ice.”)  In the first, Jörmungandr disguises itself as a cat.  Thor tries to lift the colossal feline but only manages to lift one paw.  The second is a fishing trip where he catches Jörmungandr.  But the giant Hymir, who is with Thor, let’s the serpent go.  The third is the final meeting.  Jörmungandr comes out of the ocean and poisons the sky.  Thor kills the serpent but walks 9 paces and dies from Jörmungandr’s venom.

While there isn’t much more known about Jörmungandr, we don’t know too much about Loch-less, either.  However, there are a few similarities between them.  First of all, I never would have assumed Loch-less would be considered a serpent, except for its similarity to Jörmungandr.  However, Bill does something surprising when she’s searching on the Internet for references to the creature in 1814.  She calls it a serpent, which gives more credibility to the idea that Loch-less is meant to be Jörmungandr. 

> **BILL** : I don't get it. London, 1814. Monster, sea creature, serpent, really, really big fish. Nothing.

Unlike Jörmungandr, Loch-less isn’t that big, but I wouldn’t expect it to be, either.  Nonetheless, Loch-less is a giant beastie about 1 mile long.  It did release its tail, too, and splashed the Doctor and Bill.  This suggests to me that things are going to heat up quickly for them, as most likely the other shoe has dropped and Ragnarök has begun.  


Unlike Loch-less, Jörmungandr was never chained.  It was Jörmungandr’s brother, Fenrir, the wolf, who was chained.  It’s possible that Loch-less, then, represents a combination of Jörmungandr and Fenrir.

As far as Thor’s fishing trip goes, the symbolism of the guy on the ice fishing and “catching” the Doctor, shown below, and Bill could be a loose representation of Thor’s myth.  


####  **Loch-less, the Star Whale Metaphor & _Fimbulvetr_**

There are a few other things we know about Loch-less.  

> **DOCTOR** : The creature in the river, where did it come from?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Who the devil are you people?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Where did it come from?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Nowhere! It's always been there. The secret's been passed down in the family since, I don't know when. As far back as records go.

Loch-less must be at least several human generations old.  Sutcliffe is a mirror of Klineman Halpen from “The Planet of the Ood,” who is the Chief Executive of Ood Operations, a job that has been passed down from his grandfather, to his father, and eventually to himself.

> **DOCTOR** : Then tell me, do you also keep a record of how many it's killed?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Please. People know the ice is dangerous, yet they will insist on their festivities. That's hardly my fault.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Don't sell yourself short. This is the biggest Frost Fair in decades, and that's down to you.  
>  **BILL** : It is?  
>  **DOCTOR** : The man holding me has a tattoo on his left hand. And that's not all, is it? The circus performers, the elephant, that's all you.  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : I made the most of the situation. It's the first proper freeze it's caused in years.  
>  **BILL** : Why? Production down, huh? Not enough people dying?

**_Starship UK_**  
BTW, we don’t know that Loch-less ate the child named Spider.   While Spider disappeared, so did the children on _Starship UK_.  They weren’t eaten; they were enslaved by humans.  It seems Spider was eaten, especially since Loch-less spit out Spider’s hat, but it did so along with other debris.  I’m withholding judgment on Spider’s fate for the moment.

Bill says that production is down because not enough people are dying, and that comes back to our season opener “The Pilot.”  Loch-less is a metaphor for the Star Whale and the Doctor, who spent years away from being the pilot for the metaphorical _Starship UK_.  Its fate was indirectly mentioned in last week’s episode, “Smile.”

Of course, Loch-less is actually the Eye of Harmony metaphor since, like the Star Whale, it’s producing energy to power spaceships.  I’m equating the Star Whale metaphor with the Eye of Harmony.

> **BILL** : Because the creature is an alien.  
>  **DOCTOR** : It certainly appears to be producing fuel suitable for interstellar travel.

**Freezing the Weather & _Fimbulvetr_**  
Interestingly, it seems Loch-less can affect the weather and make it unseasonably cold.  One of the pods we looked at from the 4th Doctor story “The Seeds of Doom” was put in a freezer, so I imagine that one of the faces of the Doctor has evolved in the cold.  I don’t know where in Scotland Amy Pond is supposed to be from, but the actress is from Inverness, which is 8 miles from Loch Ness. 

Also of interest is something that the 10th Doctor says to Jack about Gallifrey in [“The Sound of Drums”](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/29-12.htm) when he talks about Gallifrey and the Untempered Schism that has always made me question it:

> **JACK** : But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was. It was beautiful. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords, the oldest and most mighty race in the universe, looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere, only to watch. Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism. It's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad. Brr. I don't know.

There is no reason for the Doctor to say, “Brr,” except from his memories of coldness.  This has always made me wonder what cold place he is thinking of when he relates this.

Since Loch-less is causing the freeze somehow (I want to know how), it is bringing on _Fimbulvetr_ and the prelude to Ragnarök.  Did Ragnarök just begin near the end of the episode with the slap of Loch-less’s tail?

##  **Continuing Subtext Story of the Star Whale Metaphor**

Once again, “The Beast Below” figures heavily in a 10th season episode because the Star Whale metaphor is a powerful one, symbolizing so much that is relevant to the 12th Doctor.  We are seeing what has and is happening to the Doctor through the metaphor.  

Amazingly, the Star Whale metaphor has been part of the subtext story for the past 8 consecutive episodes (which is unprecedented in the subtext), and I can make an argument for including “Sleep No More” as the 9th episode, even though it’s an indirect reference.  (In a few minutes, I’ll list them all with a short blurb about the Star Whale metaphor.)

Therefore, it’s not surprising in “Thin Ice” that we come back to the continuing themes of racism and species-ism, slavery, suffering, lies, secrets, and a powerful energy source for interstellar travel.  

Also, the Star Whale metaphor comes with the reminder of a promise.  If DW is doing a version of Ragnarök, then things are going to get very dark, indeed.  However, everything is happening as part of the rescue plan. 

####  **Racism & Slavery**

With racism affecting Bill and slavery still legalized, once again these topics are hitting very close to home with the Doctor.  After all, Bill is a face of the Doctor.  Regardless of that, he cares about his student and is passionate about her honor. 

> **DOCTOR** : Always remember, Bill. Passion fights, but reason wins.

He disregards his logic and goes with his heart when he punches Sutcliffe for racist remarks.  Once again, the Doctor gets physical, fighting back for someone he cares about.  By using Clara to manipulate the Doctor, Missy pushed him in this direction.  


This is yet another example of how the 12th Doctor is much more emotional than the previous Doctors, even though he tries to deny it.  He cares so much more than he wants people to know and is in denial about several things.  We’ve seen extraordinary hints of how much he cares in the past 3 episodes, except, as it seems with the child nicknamed Spider in “Thin Ice.”  (I’ll talk more about this in a few minutes because that seems out of character, and we’ll examine why.)

Anyway, the darkness does come back to the promise of the Star Whale metaphor given by Amy’s line about greater love in the poem in “The Beast Below.”

> **AMY** [OC]: In bed above, we're deep asleep, while greater love lies further deep. This dream must end, this world must know, we all depend on the beast below.

Things are happening for a greater purpose than they appear, and the love goes a lot deeper than it appears, too.

“Thin Ice” isn’t the first time we see racism.  Martha, for example, encountered it in “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood.”  Also, she was concerned about being enslaved during her stay in Elizabethan England in “The Shakespeare Code.”  Additionally, the topic comes up in Classic Who, especially in a couple of 7th Doctor and Ace episodes.

However, racism has also come up when talking about the elves, for example, in “Last Christmas.”  I don’t want to diminish the racism that Bill and Martha have experienced, so I’m going to call the racism against other species as species-ism.

####  **Species-ism, Slavery, Loch-less & the Doctor**

Species-ism and slavery has come up quite a few times.  However, I’m going to reference only a few episodes that affect the Doctor.  We’ve seen an image of Caecilius with a chain around his neck in “The Fires of Pompeii,” so we know he was a happy slave.

We’ve seen Xs at times, for example, with the image of the 10th Doctor and Caecilius and the 3 Xs between them.  


The chains holding Loch-less make an X, meaning a hidden, integrated soul.  If you have been reading the previous chapters of this series, I hope you expected to see an X somewhere on Loch-less since Loch-less is a metaphor for a face of the Doctor.  


After Bill and the Doctor come out of the water, they talk about the mournful sounds Loch-less made:

> **BILL** : The sound it made. I couldn't hear you, but that noise, it's like I felt it in my bones, you know? It sounded like, like  
>  **DOCTOR** : Despair. Loneliness. A prisoner in chains.

This is reminiscent of the scene in [“Planet of the Ood”](http://www.chakoteya.net/DoctorWho/30-3.htm) between Donna and the 10th Doctor.  He can hear the mournful song that the Ood are singing, but Donna can’t:

> **DOCTOR** : Oh, my head.  
>  **DONNA** : What is it?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Can't you hear it? The singing?  
>  (Groups of Ood are sitting in cages. They turn away from the Doctor and Donna.)  
>  **DONNA** : They look different to the others.  
>  **DOCTOR** : That's because they're natural born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery. Unspoilt. That's their song.  
>  **DONNA** : I can't hear it.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Do you want to?  
>  **DONNA** : Yeah.  
>  **DOCTOR** : It's the song of captivity.  
>  **DONNA** : Let me hear it.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Face me.  
>  (The Doctor makes a mind meld with Donna.)  
>  **DOCTOR** : Open your mind. That's it. Hear it, Donna. Hear the music.  
>  (The song is sad and beautiful. Donna cries.)  
>  **DONNA** : Take it away.

Here’s an example of how Bill, also a face of the Doctor, is part of the Star Whale metaphor.  Loch-less’s eye is reflected in Bill’s helmet glass.  


Here’s another example of seeing eye to eye with themselves, which we saw with Heather in “The Pilot” and with the girl in “The Beast Below.”  


Interestingly, once Loch-less is free, we see the Doctor and Bill standing on the dock watching.  Bill and the Doctor both are still prisoners, as evidenced by the chains in the image below.  However, check out what happens in the subsequent shots as Loch-less moves through the River on her way to freedom.  


Less of the chain is visible for Bill.  


Even less of the chain is visible for Bill in this image below.  


Even less of the chain is visible for both Bill and the Doctor in this image below.  Bill’s chain is almost gone.  Loch-less just splashed them a few seconds before this.  Bill is happy, but the Doctor…

We don’t see any chains in the image below, but this doesn’t mean they are gone. This is foreshadowing for their freedom. Interestingly, Bill looks happy, but the Doctor doesn’t.  I imagine that might be because he knows the prophecy and what is coming.  


**Doctor Disco, Duplication & Imprisonment**  
In “Thin Ice,” the Doctor once again uses the alias “Doctor Disco.”  He first used this in “The Zygon Invasion.”  One of the interesting things is that near the beginning of the first Zygon episode, he is on the phone in the image below, trying to call Clara.  However, notice the chain next to him.  He is a prisoner, which isn’t surprising.  The Doctor’s message below doesn’t make sense, just like a lot of his dialogue in this episode and its sequel, “The Zygon Inversion.”  


> **CLARA** [OC]: Hi, this is Clara Oswald. I'm probably on the Tube or in outer space. Leave a message! (beep)  
>  **DOCTOR** : Hello, it's Doctor Disco. I'm in the twenty first century. I don't know what month. I'm staking out some of the most dangerous creatures imaginable.  
>  (Two little girls stop and stare at him.)

Since when can’t the Doctor figure out what month it is?  He’s a prisoner, so the subtext and odd dialogue is suggesting that he’s been duplicated.  How many duplicates does he have?  It seems like there are possibly 2 in these Zygon episodes.

And since the Doctor is using the alias Doctor Disco again in “Thin Ice,” this suggests that we might be viewing a duplicate.  That wouldn’t be surprising especially since Roman Rory was a plastic duplicate.

##  **Why Bill Decides the Fate of Loch-less**

The Doctor tells Bill she needs to decide Loch-less’s fate:

> **DOCTOR** : The creature. The loch-less monster. The not-so-little mermaid. Are we just going to leave her down there?  
>  **BILL** : We can't set her free. She could burst up out of the water and eat a hundred people right off of Southbank! She could eat half of London!  
>  **DOCTOR** : She might. It's a risk. So, what do you want to do, Bill?  
>  **BILL** : We already know the answers. Why are you even asking?  
>  **DOCTOR** : I don't know the answers. Only idiots know the answers. But if your future is built on the suffering of that creature, what's your future worth?  
>  **BILL** : Why is it up to me?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Because it can't be up to me. Your people, your planet. I serve at the pleasure of the human race, and right now, that's you. Give me an order. Not long till noon. I need an order.  
>  (Long, long pause, then -)  
>  **BILL** : Save her.  
>  **DOCTOR** : I'll take care of this. You get everyone off the ice.

This is very reminiscent of his exchange with Clara in “Kill the Moon.”  He’s telling the truth that he can’t see the future when it comes to both the Moon/Earth and Loch-less.  Because he can’t see the future when it involves him personally.  Both the dragon and Loch-less are metaphors for him.

What’s really interesting is his response here:

> **DOCTOR** : Because it can't be up to me. Your people, your planet. I serve at the pleasure of the human race, and right now, that's you. Give me an order. Not long till noon. I need an order.

Coupled with Nardole’s comment about not making tea for Bill in “Smile”:

> **NARDOLE** : Well, I'm not making any for her. She can make her own. I'm not a slave for any human, I can assure you.

The Doctor needing an order?  It makes sense if the Doctor is a slave, which seems likely since Nardole is railing against being a slave to humans.  Needing an order sounds a lot like the Ood in “The Impossible Planet,” where Rose asked the Ood about being ordered about:

> **DANNY** : But the Ood offer themselves. If you don't give them orders, they just pine away and die.  
>  **ROSE** : Seriously, you like being ordered about?  
>  **OOD** : It is all we crave.  
>  **ROSE** : Why's that, then?  
>  **OOD** : We have nothing else in life.  
>  **ROSE** : Yeah, well, I used to think like that, a long time ago.

The Doctor might be under a contract of slavery with humans.  It certainly sounds like he can’t decide his own fate, as far as releasing a face of himself.  If true, he sounds a lot like Dobby, the enslaved house-elf from _Harry Potter_.  Dobby can only be released from slavery if his owner gives him an article of clothing.  It seems the Doctor can only release himself if allowed by a human.

If this contract thing is true, he’ll help Bill and her friends break the contract in “Knock, Knock.”  Then, he’ll most likely be able to break his own contract since Bill’s would represent or foreshadow his own.

Will we see another Star Whale reference in “Knock, Knock”?  Or does Loch-less’s release mean the end of the Star Whale reference, at least for the time being.  I still believe that the 12th Doctor will stay with Clara and River in the Library metaphor.

##  **Saga of the Star Whale Metaphor**

What is surprising about the Star Whale metaphor is that these first 3 episodes of Season 10 tie in so closely to show us the ongoing saga, especially when the episodes are not billed as a multi-part episode.  This is not typical of episodes, even in subtext, which, like canon, usually jumps around.  However, this phenomenon goes back to the last 8 episodes.  They are telling us the story of the Eye of Harmony and the Star Whale, the pilot of _Starship UK_ :

 **“Face the Raven”**  
Clara dies, and the Doctor becomes the angry Sun, who is trapped and imprisoned, as he becomes the supernova on the verge of becoming a Black Hole. 

**“Heaven Sent”**  
We see the Doctor grieving, alone and very, very scared for 4.5 billion years.  He’s tortured by it all, as he’s chased around the castle in his confession dial by a creature from his nightmares.  Through Rassilon’s engineering, the Doctor has been used to create the Eye of Harmony, the supernova on the verge of creating a Black Hole that is held in a permanent state of decay.  The Doctor dying over and over provides energy to the system that is harnessed.  He is probably being used as the Star Whale here, providing energy for space travel.

 **“Hell Bent”**  
Having broken free of the confession dial at the end of “Heaven Sent,” he is the angry Sun who has gone mad with grief, torture, and solitary confinement.  He frees Clara from her time stream and goes hell bent through the universe, causing the solar flares and other destruction.  Afterward, he may have become the Star Whale again to become _Starship UK_ in order to save people on Earth from destruction, or is that part of “Heaven Sent” too?  Meaning he never really stopped being a Star Whale?

 **“The Husbands of River Song”**  
The Doctor is tired of being the Star Whale with all the weight on his back without Clara’s help.  He’s revolting.  Hydroflax is being powered by a Black Hole and the Eye of Harmony.

 **“The Return of Doctor Mysterio”**  
We actually get to see the Eye of Harmony, and the Doctor has not been a Star Whale for at least 24 years.

 **“The Pilot”**  
The Star Whale is grounded and has been for a long time.  The autopilot, like in “The Lodger,” or whatever it is, is looking for a pilot.  It seizes Heather, before the Doctor is back at the helm of the Star Whale with Bill.

 **“Smile”**  
We saw what happened to all the ships that evacuated Earth due to the angry Sun.  Except for colony ship _Erehwon_ , all the people died, including those from _Starship UK_.

> **DOCTOR** : The colony ship isn't on the way, it's right here. The colonists are all around us, cryogenically frozen. What's in those pods, Bill, is the surviving population of Earth. And I nearly killed all of them.  
>  **TANNOY** : Welcome to your new world. Be happy.  
>  (The boy goes out into the city.)  
>  **BILL** : They're waking up, aren't they?  
>  **DOCTOR** : We must have triggered the process when we came in.  
>  **BILL** : So what happens now?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Now? Now they're all going to leave this ship, and find their friends and family mulched in the garden. And if they don't smile about that, it's going to be the end of the human race.  
> 

So the people of _Erehwon_ are the last humans, and the Doctor almost killed them.  What happened to _Starship UK_?  Did they arrive on a planet and then die, like many from _Erehwon_?

There is a turning point and redemption signaled in the subtext for the Star Whale.

 **“Thin Ice”**  
Loch-less is 

> **DOCTOR** : The creature in the river, where did it come from?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Who the devil are you people?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Where did it come from?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Nowhere! It's always been there. The secret's been passed down in the family since, I don't know when. As far back as records go.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Then tell me, do you also keep a record of how many it's killed?  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : Please. People know the ice is dangerous, yet they will insist on their festivities. That's hardly my fault.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Don't sell yourself short. This is the biggest Frost Fair in decades, and that's down to you.  
>  **BILL** : It is?  
>  **DOCTOR** : The man holding me has a tattoo on his left hand. And that's not all, is it? The circus performers, the elephant, that's all you.  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : I made the most of the situation. It's the first proper freeze it's caused in years.  
>  **BILL** : Why? Production down, huh? Not enough people dying?

Having had the subtext turning point in the previous episode, the Star Whale metaphor is going free, and so are the children.

##  **Suffering Children**

It’s not just the Star Whale that is suffering.  Of course, there are people being eaten, but there are children, too, who are ensnared in the system in both “Thin Ice” and “The Beast Below.”  In “Thin Ice,” children are trapped in poverty and homelessness.  And this mirrors the poverty and homelessness of the children and Nancy in “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances.”  Therefore, these two 9th Doctor episodes are also playing a major role here.   Nancy steals food and takes care of homeless children, just as Kitty does.

####  **The Doctor & Robin Hood**

Interestingly, the Doctor is playing Robin Hood from “The Robot of Sherwood,” stealing from people who seem more financially sound to give to the children.  In fact, one of the names in his office window is Robin Oxley.  Robin Hood is Robin of Loxley.  


However, the Doctor also steals a hat after he gives his to Dot, shown below.  In Regency society, it wouldn’t have been very polite for a man to go without a hat in public.  He goes hatless multiple times, which may represent him playing other Doctors.  


He takes off his hat, for example, when he is talking to Bill about moving on.  The 11th Doctor also talked about “moving on” in “The Day of the Doctor.”

Interestingly, a “palace” reference showed up in “Thin Ice” when the Doctor and Bill needed to get into the dredging area to investigate.

> **BILL** : How are we getting in?  
>  (Psychic paper.)  
>  **BILL** : You work for the palace?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Haven't had that one in a while.

I found this short piece of dialogue fascinating.  The Doctor says he hasn’t had a palace reference in a while.  Is that a reference to one of many episodes from Classic Who that have palaces, or is it a reference to something that Robin Hood said in “Robot of Sherwood”?…:

> **DOCTOR** : I'm still having a little trouble believing yours, I'm afraid.  
>  **ROBIN** : Is it so hard to credit? That a man born into wealth and privilege should find the plight of the oppressed and weak too much to bear...  
>  **DOCTOR** : No.  
>  **ROBIN** : Until one night he is moved to steal a Tardis? Fly among the stars, fighting the good fight. Clara told me your stories.

The Doctor was born into wealth and privilege.  In fact, in “Hell Bent” Ashildr said the Doctor was a highborn Gallifreyan.  If the Doctor’s pedigree is based on Merlin’s, then he is a prince.  And the prince notion is supported in “The Family of Blood” subtext when the Doctor turned himself human and couldn’t remember who he was.  He was referring to what he had written in his diary.

> **DOCTOR** : But this Doctor sounds like some, some romantic lost prince. Would you rather that? Am I not enough?

Therefore, the “palace” reference could actually be alluding to the Doctor’s actual pedigree.  

Sutcliffe, BTW, is a dark mirror of the Doctor.  

> **DOCTOR** : I preferred it when you were alien.  
>  **SUTCLIFFE** : When I was?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Well, that explained the lack of humanity. What makes you so sure that your life is worth more than those people out there on the ice? Is it the money? The accident of birth that puts you inside the big, fancy house?

The Doctor would no doubt also be referring to himself when he said, “The accident of birth,” which would make sense since he gave up his wealth and privilege because he found, as Robin said, “The plight of the oppressed and weak too much to bear.”

Interestingly, the Doctor’s theme music plays as Sutcliffe falls into the Thames, which makes Sutcliffe’s death seem like the Doctor has nearly come full circle with whom he started out to be – a person full of mercy who cares deeply about the plight of those less fortunate than himself.

This image of the people nearly surrounding the Doctor on Gallifrey in “Hell Bent” suggests to me the Doctor is more than a war hero to these people.  He is fighting for them and identifies with them.  This so much reminds me of Jesus and his flock.  


####  **Doctor Reading** ** _Der Struwwelpeter_** **to the Children: The Coming Disaster**

In a nice moment, we get to see the Doctor reading to the children, although he is reading a rather morbid fairytale "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" (The Story of the Thumb-Sucker) from the German children's book _Der Struwwelpeter_ (or Shockheaded Peter).  It was written by Heinrich Hoffmann and published in 1845, so the Doctor must have a copy in the TARDIS.  

According to Wikipedia, it contains “ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children.  Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way.”  Once again we have references to rhymes and stories with tragic consequences, this time for misbehavior.

From this story and other subtext, I get the impression that this is a story where the Doctor’s mother warns him not to use his powers, like the mother in the story warns her son not to suck his thumbs.  However, as soon as the thumb-sucker’s mother goes out of the house, he resumes his thumb sucking with terrible consequences.  A roving tailor appears and cuts off his thumbs with giant scissors.

Just like in the thumb-sucker’s case, the Doctor’s mother takes her eyes off of him, and he’s out using his powers (TARDIS).  Nardole is mirroring his mother, and the Doctor is the unruly son who was warned but didn’t listen.

**This is all pointing to something disastrous coming for the Doctor.  Something we haven’t seen yet because of the mirrors being set up here.  This is still before Peter Capaldi decided to leave after this season, so his regeneration most likely isn’t involved in the initial disaster.  He’s going to have to suffer tragic consequences first.  This is probably part of the Doctor’s fall or maybe the beginning of it.**

Is the Doctor going to go blind?  We’ve examined how the subtext for the 12th Doctor keeps showing vision impairment (like face blindness) and other blindness.  The 2 big pieces of subtext that say the Doctor will be physically blinded are the blind Krafayis in “Vincent and the Doctor” and Newton from _The Man Who Fell to Earth_ , who is blinded by the FBI.  

The white cane with a red-tip that we saw in the subtext in TRODM could potentially be a 3rd piece of foreshadowing since these canes are only used in physical blindness situations (partial or total), rather than metaphorical blindness.  However, we’ll have to wait and see how this is really meant.  Is it just metaphorical?

The other thing to consider is that bad things just don’t usually happen in canon to the Doctor.  I’m not counting deaths of people around him, or events like “Heaven Sent” where imprisonment and torture lasted for 4.5 billion years because they are mostly contained to one or a few episodes.  Bad things happen to the people around him who are metaphors for him.  

However, because we are getting down to the truth, things are changing.  The memory block from the last encounter with Clara in “Hell Bent” is a rare example of a sort of long-lasting canon problem.  Of course, long-lasting subtext problems happen a lot, like enslavement.

##  **Redemption for Not Just the Doctor**

“Thin Ice” has some other continuing themes.  Last week we saw the subtext turning point in the Doctor’s life, as well as his redemption (sorry, I haven’t posted my 3rd chapter for “Smile” which talks about the redemption signs.)  “Thin Ice” is also signaling redemption, but it’s not just for the Doctor.  And redemption seems like it’s going to be a huge price, considering the Doctor has already been through so much.

Anyway, in the image below there is a person carrying 4 dead rabbits on a Tau Cross (named for the Greek letter “T”).  It also has several other names, including St. Anthony's Cross.  This cross means redemption.  Therefore, there are 4 people who will be redeemed.  These, I believe, are related to the children, but they also relate to the Doctor, Rory, Amy, and River, as you can see from the images below.  


There’s a dead rabbit (red arrow) hanging near the Doctor.  BTW, the yellow arrow points to something that is called a drum in “The Satan Pit.”  The 12th Doctor’s head looks like it is on the end of the rope once again.  It’s a theme with him.  He’s not wearing a hat here, though.  


In “The Vampires of Venice,” Amy and Rory are associated with dead rabbits, shown between them in the image below.  


Not only is Amy associated with a dead rabbit above, but also Amy’s redemption is foreshadowed in “The Beast Below” when she goes to see what is in the tent, shown below.  Magpie Electricals (ME) is associated with an alien known as the Wire, a stealer of souls, as we saw in the 10th Doctor story, “The Idiot’s Lantern.”  ME shows up a lot.  In fact, the 12th Doctor’s amplifier in “The Magician’s Apprentice” and “Before the Flood” is branded ME, as well as various electrical products in 10th and 11th Doctor episodes.  Is it a coincidence that ME could also be Me, as in Ashildr, a mirror for the Doctor?  Or the Doctor himself as an architect?  


Anyway, Amy can’t enter the tent because there is a padlock, shown below, with a Tau Cross keeping the tent locked up.  Amy picks the lock and finds tentacles from the Star Whale have grown through the superstructure of the ship.  (The whale, BTW, has morphed into something more than the diagrams showed that we examined before, which is similar to Loch-less morphing from the little anglerfish, as the Doctor mentioned.)   


Anyway, once the state police capture Amy so she can cast her vote to either let the Star Whale go or continue to torture it, she chooses to continue the torture.  This is a step, though, toward stopping the torture and redemption for Amy’s decision.

The other person responsible for the slavery and torture in “The Beast Below” is Queen Liz 10, shown below, shooting like River.  In fact, she has big hair and is a metaphor for River.  That’s not surprising since we examined how River is a Hand of Omega, a remote star manipulator, making the Doctor become a supernova and the Star Whale.  


####  **The Child Metaphors**

The 4 remaining children are shown below.  The 3 younger children match the genders of the children whom River is looking after in the Library.  In fact, 3 children come up several times in various episodes, and I can’t think of a time when they are not 2 girls and a boy.  I said I’m ignoring genders, but not here, because these characters relate to established main characters.  CAL is probably Dot since the Doctor gave Dot his hat.  There’s also Harriet on the right below, and Perry on the left.  Kitty has big hair like River, and interestingly is taking care of the other children, just like River in the Library.  Therefore, Kitty is a metaphor for River.  


Is Dot actually a reference to the 7th Doctor’s companion Dorothy Gale “Ace”?  Ace is meant to be like Dorothy from _The_ _Wizard of Oz._  Just as a tornado in _The Wizard of Oz_ transported Dorothy Gale to Oz, a time storm transported Ace to Iceworld.

Shown below, Spider is stealing the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.   


Spider is an interesting name, especially because in Donna’s first story, “The Runaway Bride,” the Empress of the Racnoss, shown below from a TARDIS Wikia image, is a spider-like creature whose children died when the 10th Doctor flooded the building with water from the Thames.  The Doctor coldly watched as the water poured in and the Empress screamed in anguish for her children.  In fact, it was this event where Donna by turning right in “Turn Left” wasn’t there to save the Doctor.  He died in the flood, too.  


So I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Spider.  He may show up as a metaphor again or a reference to his name.  There’s also the spider-like insectoid in the big “C” room in TRODM.  Are these connected?

 **The 12th Doctor & Spider**  
The Doctor did seem unfeeling when Spider got sucked under the ice, appearing more concerned about the sonic screwdriver.  Callousness in this situation is in direct opposition to what we know about him, especially with children.  

However, the 10th Doctor was very callous with the Racnoss’s children.  Granted, they aren’t human, but they were all just hatching and we hadn’t seen any children yet.  Could be an instance where the Doctor was up against his own species-ism?  The 10th Doctor was not into giving second chances.  

Anyway, something is wrong about the 12th Doctor’s reaction to Spider’s plight.  Is it a coping mechanism?  Or did Spider get saved in another way?  Is this a retelling of “Turn Left” where the 12th Doctor is like Donna and wasn’t there to save the 10th Doctor?  In “Turn Left,” initially the 10th Doctor died (similar to Spider below) under the Thames water with his screwdriver in his hand.  This all has to mean something.  


I see the 12th Doctor as caring very deeply, more deeply than he wants to admit, and he’s the most emotional of all the Doctors.  He has to move on or more people will die.  River made that point to the 10th Doctor in the Library when he thought Donna might be dead in “Forest of the Dead.”

> **RIVER** : Listen to me. You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Less emotional? I'm not emotional.  
>  **RIVER** : There are five people in this room still alive. Focus on that. Dear God, you're hard work young.

We know the 12th Doctor has to care.  Otherwise, he wouldn’t hear people screaming every time he closed his eyes.

Anyway, yesterday I saw an interview with Sarah Dollard, the writer of “Thin Ice” on _The Aftershow - Doctor Who: The Fan Show_.  Sarah believes, as I do, that the Doctor very much cares, but he tells himself a different story, so he can move on.  Since she knows the Doctor much better than I do, I’m taking her word for it.  She starts talking about this at 6:54, if you are interested.  
 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJQUhzuh5oI&t=909s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJQUhzuh5oI&t=909s)

##  **Bill is Keeping the Doctor Honest – In Some Ways**

The Doctor is in denial about a lot of things:

**“Smile”**

> **BILL** : Why are you Scottish?  
>  **DOCTOR** : I'm not Scottish, I'm just cross.

The Scottish answer is very different than what he said in “Deep Breath,” where he said he was Scottish and he could complain about things.

> **BILL** : Is there a Scotland in space?  
>  **DOCTOR** : They're all over the place, demanding independence from every planet that they land on. Why are you here?  
>  **BILL** : Because I figured out why you keep your box as a phone box.  
>  **DOCTOR** : I told you, it's stuck.  
>  **BILL** : Advice and Assistance Obtainable Immediately. You like that.  
>  **DOCTOR** : No, I don't.  
>  **BILL** : See, this is the point. You don't call the helpline because you are the helpline.  
>  **DOCTOR** : Don't sentimentalise me. I don't just fly around helping people out.

We know this is not true.

> **BILL** : What are you doing right now?  
>  **DOCTOR** : I happened to be passing by, so I'm mucking in.  
>  **BILL** : You've never passed by in your life. You couldn't even leave me serving chips, so I'm not going to leave you.

Again, she’s keeping him honest.

 **“Thin Ice”**  
Bill asked the Doctor how many people he has killed:

> **BILL** : Don't tell me. You've moved on.  
>  **DOCTOR** : You know what happens if I don't move on? More people die. There are kids living rough near here. They may well be next on the menu. Do you want to help me? Do you want to stand here stamping your foot? Because let me tell you something. I'm two thousand years old, and I have never had the time for the luxury of outrage.

I do believe his answer about moving on, at least in the moment of crisis.  I think he will see Spider in his thoughts when he closes his eyes.  However, we know he’s in denial about outrage.  Bill calls him on it later after he punched Sutcliffe for racist remarks.

> **BILL** : No time for outrage. You've never had time for anything else, right?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Don't be smug. Smug belongs to me.  
>  **BILL** : Are you really two thousand years old?  
>  **DOCTOR** : Why?  
>  **BILL** : I just wanted to know how long it takes before you can make a speech like the one you just made. It was worth the wait.

This last point about worth the 2000-year wait is what the rescue is about.  The Doctor is nearly whole again.

Bill isn’t keeping him honest when it comes to the Vault, though.

##  **The Vault**

Once again, we see the Vault, although this time at the end of the episode.  However, its presence has been looming large in the rest of the episode through metaphors.  Just like Sutcliffe keeping Loch-less prisoner, the Doctor is holding something prisoner in the Vault.  It seemed content until this episode. The elephant refers to it too.

At the end, Nardole is left to guard the Vault since the Doctor used the coin trick on him, allowing the Doctor to run off in the TARDIS with Bill.  The Doctor wanting to be left alone doesn’t bode well, either, for coming events.

Interestingly, there are reflections of water reflecting on the door, and currently it has 8 red lights, a sign of a djinni.  The pattern of lights looks somewhat like a demonic face.  And the cross-like structure at the top of the door might be considered an upside-down Tau cross, which certainly wouldn’t bode well.  


Whatever is inside, it now it wants out.  There are 5 sets of knocks, each with 3 knocks that become more insistent until the last, which is a death toll of 4 very insistent knocks: 3, 3, 3, 3, 4.  That there are 5 sets means this is a weapon of mass destruction.  

The last time we heard 4 knocks was in “Hell Bent” when Me knocked on the TARDIS door.  Four knocks mean the Doctor’s life is coming to an end.  As a Sun, it has to come to an end with an alchemical death or real death.  With the Great Work, we should see an alchemical death before the next alchemical marriage to the Mother of God consciousness. 

I still contend that the Vault represents the Doctor’s mind.  It’s got to be one of the Doctor’s faces, which doesn’t mean they look like Peter Capaldi.  They could even be female.  However, I won’t be surprised if it does look like the 12th Doctor because the subtext suggests the Doctor has been duplicated.  Also, having gone through a memory block, Clara is locked away in his mind just as most likely the Master (as the War Doctor) is.  The Doctor’s family is locked away in his mind, too.  Maybe Susan will show up.

There are 44 Circles in the Squares on the giant doors, which have Gallifreyan writing on them, so that’s worth three 12th Doctors and one 8th Doctor or a djinni.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to make this meta series as clear as possible, so if it’s not, please let me know.
> 
> Check out my [meta archive on Tumblr](http://tardisgirlepic.tumblr.com/meta-archive) for images


End file.
